To use the internet vernacular that is so popular with the kids these days... the Macross Quarter by Bandai is a total Fail.

The Quarter is named such as it is 1/4 the size of a normal Macross class ship. Being a purely military ship it doesn't carry a civilian population and being smaller it can move in to engage enemy vessels at close range in melee combat. Please enjoy this clip of the Quarter in all it's glory...

As you can see it's all sorts of ass-kicking goodness and fires me up as a mecha/Macross/Robotech fan like nothing has since first seeing Robotech in the 80's. So needless to say I was very interested in checking this out when I heard Bandai was doing one for their DX Chogokin line. Being their DX Chogokin line however, I was apprehensive as their previously released VF-25 Messiah's where woefully lacking in my opinion.

Well the apprehension was justified … Bandai (once again) thinks this is good enough for your $200 bucks.

No, no it's not Bandai. If folks are spending $200 on a toy (High-end collectible or not) of a flying fortress, we should be able to pick it up without it completely loosing it's form and falling in on itself. No excuses...

The box the Quarter comes in is big. Inside the Quarter is stored in a styrofoam tray and the rest of the parts are stored in clear vacuum formed trays. It the usual modern packaging.

Included in the set is:

Macross Quarter

Beam Cannon (Right Arm)

Flight Deck (Left Arm)

Stand (Multiple Parts for reconfiguration)

4 VF-25 Messiah's

2 Destroid Monsters (in Flight and Destroid mode)

1 Vajra

In Fortress mode the Quarter measures 20 inches x 8 inches at it's longest and widest points. It's huge and on the stand it's gorgeous and stable. No deny it's got presence on the shelf and it sure looks pretty.

Also in the box are a bunch of mini-figs. 4 VF-25's , The Destroid Monster (in Flight and Destroid mode) and Vajra. These are nice touches that allow you to decorate the flight deck. They are not in actual scale to the Quarter but any smaller and they would not even be noticeable. So not complaints here.

Paint and sculpt detail is generous. No complaints here it all looks soooo good.

So not only will it not hold it's form off the stand in Fortress Mode but it is a pain to transform. Literally...

All this exacting detail creates very sharp corners around areas you need to grip to transform. Leading to sticking yourself, possibly drawing blood and generally pissing you off before you finish. Not to mention that the hinge in the waste is incredibly tight. So you really have to get in there and force it to rotate out. Then once your in mid-transformation it becomes so unwieldy and awkward as you fight to line things up I gave up on shooting a video of this thing. It's just not worth it...

Transitional Mode or what some folks have been calling Gerwalk mode is obtainable but it looks pretty silly. I doubt many will ever willingly display it this way anyway. It looks way cooler when you see it happen in the show as it just looks a moment of homage as it transitions between modes. Here it just looks silly.

After you have pricked yourself, drawn blood and set your blood pressure rising fighting this thing into “Assault Mode” it's not bad at all. Unlike it's Fortress Mode it has no problem holding it's form off the stand.

It features a nice range of motion in the legs with nice ratchet joints that hold them where you want them.

Arms seem tight enough as of now to hold the Beam Cannon and Flight deck upright but that may change over time.

Mainly because the ratchet joints are in such a useless spot on the shoulders it makes no difference in this mode. The elbows are a tension joint so that is most likely to get loose over time.

An included bracket allows you to mount the Flight deck to it's back so it can fire the beam cannon as seen in the show. Does make me wonder, where does it put the beam cannon when it needs both hands?

The stand included is basic and utilitarian but it gets the job done.

Overall I am incredibly disappointed with this release and it is most certainly not worth the asking $200 it was going for new. Die-cast content is once again low for something under the “Chogokin DX” banner being limited to the feet and some joints. The rest is all plastic.

It looks pretty on the shelf but is Zero fun to handle so I leave it to you to decide if the trade-off is once again worth it but I do not. What do you think? Is this worth $200 bucks to you? Let us know in the comments section.

Well I have let this thread run on long enough. While it has been highly entertaining to watch the hardcore Macross nerds react as if I had kicked their puppy it certainly wasn't the reaction I was expecting.

I will get the last word in and lock this thread because it's gone on long enough and there have been some VERY vocal accusations and personal attacks on me that require addressing.

1)This was MY review and MY opinion. That is why I am here doing what I do, to share MY opinion not report a general consensus of what others think. I am happy many feel it was worth the price tag. I did not.

2) The argument that I was biased in some way because it was a review sample is simply stupid. The only thing someone is "guaranteed" when we get a review sample is, is that we will actually review it on the site. I never see anyone jump on Josh's case when he puts up a sponsored review... To quote Josh from a recent blog post...

"It’s no secret that we get a lot of free toys here at CollectionDX. Most of these new High-End items – we don’t pay for. They are often furnished in exchange for a review, but no guarantee is given that it will be a positive review. Sometimes toys are given in lieu of advertising dollars. Regardless of the circumstance of how CDX gets a toy, we pledge to be objective and fair in our reviews."

3) ...which brings me to personal attacks. I am sorry I don't value the same things as you and have a difference of opinion but attacking me on personal levels just discredits anything you will ever say again on this site and is no way to engage someone in conversation.

This is one of the reviews where I knew nothing about the anime (I only know the OLD Macross stuff) or the toy, so I was eager to learn about it. And I admit this is the first review that seemed a bit...off? "Total Fail" usually means it falls flat on it's face. But Atom mentions quite a few positive qualities (which others have already quoted). So at worst it's a mixed bag.

Even though I share Atom's take on having a floppy cruiser mode (I would hate that, as I love to "fly" my ships around), using that to kill the entire review shows a lack of objectivity. Sharp bits and a tense transformation notwithstanding (since plenty of other good toys share those shortcomings). Plenty of collectors will never transform this piece. It will sit on the stand in a glass case and look lovely. Or some may transform it once, and leave it in assault mode, again in a glass case. None of those people are "apologists" for liking it, because they are enjoying their purchase. I imagine they would think someone who plays with their $200 collectible is nuts. LOL

"Plenty of collectors will never transform this piece. It will sit on the stand in a glass case and look lovely. Or some may transform it once, and leave it in assault mode, again in a glass case."

Well...maybe you can claim that this is more of an art piece than a toy, but then you have to ask why there's so much soft-corner thick-wall plastic. If it's just for display and not for play, then why not make everything out of resin and metal?

While I like having collectible peices I can display, a certain amount of playability is implied if the blasted thing is a transforming toy: If nothing else, changing between modes (even if one mode is weaker than the other) should be interesting/fun enough to count as an activity beyond the joys of poseing a figure.

With something the size of the Macross Quarter, I'm willing to forgive some lack of poseability: Sheer mass dictates that common toy joints simply couldn't hold that puppy in a super-dynamic Revoltech-style position of arse-whoopery... therefore, we're down to Transformation as play value.

I read the review. I've seen some on Youtube. I am not impressed.

The only reason I MIGHT get this figure is that it looks superbly detailed and gorgeous and that the quarter was awesome in Macross Frontier.

Still, it's clearance sale or bust for this one. I have limited funds and lines/single items I'm more interested and overall pleased with.

Wow, No Quarter AND No VF-25's due to those bad leg designs... Bandai isn't getting much of my money in the Macross Wars.

I'm not saying it was designed solely as an art piece, but you can bet some collectors will treat it that way. It's a $200 spaceship after all. Some guys will look at that price and say, "For that kind of money, it better do it all!" while others will say, "For that kind of money, I don't want to touch the thing!"

Both perspectives are valid. I'm not judging that. But if the latter crowd says it's a nice piece, then they aren't being apologists. Because for them it's a beautiful display piece. The floppiness will never be an issue. :-/

After read thru so much, I think the biggest problem lies within the very core defintion of a collector.

Do we collect these toys for merely display only or do we actually play with them? (what I meant "play" is actually playing it like a toy when you were a kid. not holding it for 15 to 20 mins and stick it to the box or the cabinet)

If you are like me, who plays with my collection, then this is a piece of item that wouldn't worth the $200 asking price. If you are just displaying this item, then this piece is beauiful. (if that's the case, i would rather buy a poster and paste it in my cabinet.)